Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Knoxville, Iowa, in Marion County, has about 7,400 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the County Attorney files charges, a case in the Iowa District Court for Marion County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Knoxville public records, Marion County arrest records, Iowa arrest records and Iowa inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Knoxville
The FBI lists Knoxville with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Knoxville Police Department. It reported 202 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Marion County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 185 arrests for 2024.
How Many Arrests Knoxville Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Knoxville: 202 for 2025, 167 for 2024, 150 for 2023 and 138 for 2022.
Knoxville's 202 arrests in 2025 were up 21 percent from 167 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Knoxville reported 154 arrests, against 139 in the same months of 2025.
Across Marion County, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 266 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Knoxville Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Knoxville is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 35 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 56 beds, and it ran at 62 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Marion County Sheriff's Office at marioncountyiowa.gov/sheriff/whos_in_jail (page title: Who's in Jail? | Sheriff's Office | Marion County, Iowa), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Iowa Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.iowa.gov/inmate-family-services.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Knoxville
An arrest in Knoxville can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Marion County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Iowa District Court for Marion County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/district-court/judicial-district-5/distr..., phone 641-828-2207); the County Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at marioncountyiowa.gov/attorney/programs_resources).
Statewide, Iowa Courts Online is the Iowa Judicial Branch's free statewide case search.
Iowa is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: anyone can request a name-based criminal history check online, through the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Knoxville
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the Iowa Open Records Law (Chapter 22) the agency must answer without delay; the law sets no fixed number of days, and a delay past 20 days must be justified, and it may charge the actual cost of copying and retrieval.
- An arrest by the Knoxville police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at knoxvilleia.gov/m/directory/department?did=5 (page title: Staff Directory, Police Department), phone 641-828-0554, 0554 Physical Address 305 S. Third St. Knoxville, IA 50138, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Marion County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Iowa District Court for Marion County, through the court records page at iowacourts.gov, phone 641-828-2207.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Marion County guide covers every agency in the county: Marion County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Knoxville each year?
Knoxville reported 202 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Knoxville?
Look on the custody page of the Marion County Sheriff's Office at marioncountyiowa.gov/sheriff/whos_in_jail. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Knoxville booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Marion County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Knoxville?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation: anyone can request a name-based criminal history check online. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Iowa Open Records Law (Chapter 22).
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Knoxville?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Knoxville police for its own arrests, the Marion County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Iowa Open Records Law (Chapter 22) the answer is due without delay; the law sets no fixed number of days, and a delay past 20 days must be justified.
Is this the official Knoxville website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.